The short answer
The letters mark stages of a counselor's training. An intern is finishing a master's degree in counseling and sees clients under weekly supervision, at a reduced rate. An LPCA (Licensed Professional Counselor Associate) has graduated and been licensed, and practices under a supervisor for at least two years in South Carolina; an LPC is fully licensed to practice independently; and an LPCS is licensed by the state to supervise associates.
From our FAQ.
The full answer
Jonathan: Let's also talk about the difference between a counseling intern, a licensed professional counselor associate, a fully licensed counselor, and then a counseling supervisor. So, interns: how do you explain what an intern is to us?
Martha: So, we have had for a little while now one intern at a time at our practice. And they're completing their master's in counseling, and then they have three semesters that they're seeing clients. It starts with a practicum, and then two semesters of internship. And during that time, they're seeing clients, and they're getting weekly supervision both from someone here at Wellspring and then their faculty supervisor.
Jonathan: Lots of supervision.
Martha: Yes, so much oversight. So, we do explain that to people. We do offer a significantly reduced rate with our interns.
Jonathan: Yeah. That's something unique to our practice. Like, we're able to do that. It's great.
Martha: Yes, so we'll offer a reduced rate, and then if an additional discount is needed, we can offer that with a sliding scale for them as well. So, that's a great option. One funny thing for me, since I am the current intern, is that a lot of people assume an intern is like a 25-year-old just out of college, rolling straight into grad school. And so, for myself, I am not 25. This is sort of like a second-act career for me. The counseling intern we had before was Brad, who's currently on staff, and he also was in the same category.
Jonathan: Yes. Second career.
Martha: And so, that's just one of those funny things, that intern sounds young.
Jonathan: Yeah, I think so. It's a common misconception.
Martha: Exactly. And it's interesting with intake: people need to feel comfortable, and often if a parent is setting up counseling for a teen, they want to know about the counselor. Like, will they throw the football with my kid? Do they feel young? That type of thing. They also want to know, if they've been married 25 years, do you have anybody there that knows what that's like? Do you have anybody there that's trying to balance aging parents and teenagers? We want to relate.
Jonathan: I'm thinking the last four interns we've had, maybe not the last four consecutively, but often have great life experience. They've often been serving in other helping professions, so I'm glad we're undoing some of the misconception here. It's not just 23-, 24-year-olds. We've had some of those, and they can be great, too.
Martha: Yeah. So, that's the intern. For the LPCA, they've graduated, they have gotten licensed through the state, and then they have a two-year period where they're working on getting their clinical hours with oversight and supervision.
Jonathan: The metaphor I sometimes use there is it's similar to a medical doctor going into residency. They've finished school, they passed their boards, they are a physician. I very much think LPCAs are counselors. They've been verified through the educational process, but they still work under the supervision of someone else.
Martha: Exactly. And in South Carolina, it's a minimum of two years. It can be a little bit longer if need be. Minimum of two years. And then a person becomes an LPC.
Jonathan: Do you want to talk a little bit about independent licensure?
Martha: Yeah, so at this point they don't have to have this supervision. They've met all the requirements. And usually with LPCs, at this point they've sort of identified that specialty that they have been gaining more training in, more experience with their client load. Their approach is more defined by this point. And so that's kind of what you would expect to see with an LPC.
Jonathan: Right. I find that halfway in between those two years, people are really developing clarity around: where do I want to focus? What am I passionate about? They're already getting some of that training. And then LPCS stands for supervisor. These are people who have the ability from the state to act as the clinical supervisor for the associates. I'm a supervisor, and Margaret Kay is in process, as a supervisor candidate, functioning that way. I'm glad we went through that. Hopefully that's helpful.
Martha: Yeah, because you see the letters behind people's names on the website, and they don't mean anything.
Jonathan: No, they don't. If you're not familiar, it's like, what does this mean? And they matter. The credentials definitely matter. They don't tell the whole story.
Martha: True. Very true.
From the Wellspring podcast, episode 2: Finding the Right Counselor · Watch the full episode